Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (the height of modernism)

A discussion with two readings from Virginia Woolf’s 1925 masterpiece.

Recommended if you like:
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Party Going by Henry Green
Ulysses by James Joyce
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
Parade’s End by Ford Madox Ford (as a way to explore Septimus Smith and the mental toll of WWI)

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#marchofthemoderns
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[ngardos]

I encouraged my daughter to read the book, she just started college, and i re-read it so we could talk about it. i really like the way you talk about being tethered to memories and also comparing Woolf to a good pilot..love that! thanks for this!

[hesterdunlop]

Really enjoyed this ... I'm currently exploring a local history discussion about how PTSD affected WW1 soldiers in the long term and how they were viewed so glad to be reminded of this masterpiece . And always happy to be reminded of The Sound and the Fury. There's a stunted and twisted hawthorn on my daily walk and it embodies the anguish of mental illness for me .

[acruelreadersthesis]

Loved the review. This is one of my favorite books. The first time I read it, the parallel between Clarissa and Septimus was what struck me most on my first read. On a second read, I paid more attention to the glorious prose. I often think that Woolf could easily have been a poet if she'd wanted to be. Jason will likely bring this up if he talks to you about this later in the week, but he and I noticed a Whitmanian quality to the prose in this novel. I'm not sure if Woolf would've been familiar with Whitman. Interesting that you mentioned D.H. Lawrence, because I believe he wrote a fair amount about Whitman and helped build his reputation (along with Moby-Dick's reputation). I could be wrong about that. Wouldn't have thought to compare this to Hedda Gabler, but now I feel like I need to reread that too! (Maybe I'll just find a production or film of it on Youtube...)

[AndreaSzabo]

I always did want to do plan a spectacular party. 💝

This was truly brilliant transmission. Thanks so much. I love Virginia Woolf. 💞😁

Now I do listening to Robert Anton Wilson to do relaxing as I like his chit chats on Ulysses very much 💞

[BookishTexan]

I have got to read this book. Can’t believe I haven’t yet.

[marianalis]

I'm from Brazil and reading the book for the first time. This was a great video, thank you!

[sheriberrie]

I'm studying this book at university and I loved your take on it and bringing in other books was also amazing, thank you!

[jordanparsons]

I couldn't agree with your more here Jack. This really does feel like a perfect novel. It's one of the few books I've read that I can legitimately say changed the way I think- after I read it I found myself narrating my own thought processes throughout the day. I also found it a wonderfully life-affirming book, which I didn't expect.

I had never considered the similarities between Septimus and Quentin Compson, but that's a very good observation- although Quentin's suicidal melancholy strikes me as largely an affectation, making his story feel a little less tragic for me.

Thanks for another great video.

[bighardbooks]

'Bout time to re-read this. I liked your example of it being like watching an "aquarium." 😎😉🤓

[EricKarlAnderson]

It's great to listen to your thoughts on this and the characters' freedom in this novel.

[tomlabooks]

Hi Jack ! She is on my TBR, never read her before, so thanks for this excellent intro 🙏🏻

[veryliterarykari]

I think I need to read this one in print! I tried to listen to the audiobook once, and I wouldn’t recommend that format. You highlighted the few things I remember liking about it! Nicely done examination of this one!👍🏻

[nasrinvahidi]

I just finished the book. Yes, indeed it reminded me a lot of the Sound and Fury in the manner of writing. But yet very different in content. People were painted in small brush strokes making up London. All together plus Bond street and couple other ones named in the book. London after the war, thank goodness war is over but so and so lost their son and have never been the same. And poor Septimus, with sever PTSD. The doctors who drive him to suicide, was that a suicide? To me that was more like homicide. Clarissa through the eyes of different people looked so different as if she was all these different people. Who was Clarissa? Why was she so important? Was she the spirit of London? The book leaves you with more questions than the answers but that’s what art’s all about. All these bits and pieces made a transitory effect in the memory.

[darioa]

Excellent review, Jack. I am also a big fan of Mrs D. I like your aquarium metaphor. You can really feel that particular day being just a segment in time where we were allowed to follow a group of people with all their relationships entangled both in the happenings of the day and in the past events that have been formative for both themselves as individuals and their opinions about each other.

[tothelithouse]

This was great! Mrs Dalloway is the first book I read by Woolf and it is one of my favorite novels. Like you said, there are some sentences that are so carefully constructed that it’s impossible not to admire how perfectly chosen every single word is. I plan to read The Sound and the Fury soon, so it was nice to hear that a character in that reminded you of one in Mrs Dalloway.

[OldBluesChapterandVerse]

I talked about this at length in January on my channel. I’ll be sure to give your video the attention it deserves this week.

[gygy]

Try the 1997 film with Vanessa Redgrave, which is very faithful to the book. No one else could have played her.

[JnikaJ]

I’m so happy I found your channel- you have great taste and such a pleasure to listen to. I’ve learned a lot.

Please consider doing a shelf tour someday soon?

[angelacraw]

A great review thank you. I appreciate the reflections on other books at the end of your review because I have been reading Proust and thought that the sections describing nature and specifically flowers reminded me of his work. I think symbolically she is using flowers in the same way as Proust too. Not surprising as she loved In Search of Lost Time.

[indiok]

Very interesting book and thanks for your analysis !